RSL Defeats NYRB 1-0

Real Salt Lake extended its home-unbeaten streak to 22 matches when the side defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 Saturday.

The streak is now tied with the Columbus Crew for the longest of its kind in MLS history.

“We take a lot of pride in this building,” coach Jason Kreis said. “A lot of us have been here since the place opened up. It feels more like a home.”

The reigning champions are now within one point of the league-leading LA Galaxy.

“We obviously want a shot at the Supporters’ Shield,” Chris Wingert said. “There’s obviously a lot of good teams in the mix… it’s gonna be tight, but we have as good of a chance as anybody.”

Scoring

Fabian Espindola scored the only goal of the match in the 4th minute. It started with a throw-in that Javier Morales passed back to Kyle Beckerman. The captain lobbed the ball from midfield and found Espindola on a run with a half-step lead on his defender. The Argentine finished past a charging keeper and was pulled down just in time to watch the ball roll into the net.

Game Notes

Real Salt Lake came out with the playoff lineup minus Will Johnson and Alvaro Saborio (both were away playing international matches with their respective countries):

• FORWARD: Findley, Espindola (50′ Campos for Espindola) (75′ Gonzalez for Findley)
• MIDFIELD: Grabavoy, Morales, Beckerman, Williams
• DEFENSE: Russell, Olave, Borchers, Wingert
• KEEPER: Rimando

Real simply looked better than New York in the first half. The Red Bulls only had two opportunities even close to the Real goal during the entire half.

Henry looked hurt during the first half (30′). He explained later that he has not been completely fit since arriving in Major League Soccer.

There were multiple early fouls committed by the Red Bulls that earned the ire of the official. At one point, he appeared to berate Macoumba Kandji following a particularly cheap touch foul against Morales.

Olave received a yellow card in the 40th minute when he was pushed into New York’s keeper. The card put him over the limit and means he will be suspended for the next MLS match (Thursday at Seattle).

On the aforementioned play, Olave went down hard and was down for a full minute. RSL warmed up a few defenders in case he wasn’t able to resume; however, Olave played the remainder of the match, though he went down again early in the second half.

Early in the second half, Espindola pulled his hamstring and had to leave the match. Pablo Campos made an early appearance and made a few solid plays to help the side. It looks to be serious, which is not a good sign given Real’s upcoming schedule.

Robbie Findley was ill for most of the match, but he played until the 75th minute because of the injury to Espindola and the absence of Saborio. Nelson Gonzalez replaced him and played very well.

The second half opened with New York playing significantly better. Kreis fumed on the sideline as Real gave up numerous opportunities that should never have occurred. Still, Real limited New York to three second-half shots and no goals.

Chris Wingert went down hard in the 88th minute after a sliding challenge ended with spikes in his ankle. He was able to get up and play the remainder of the match.

Man of the Match

Fabian Espindola scored a great goal and created numerous chances. In addition, the team struggled when he left with an injury. He is the Real Nation Man of the Match.

Tags: Espindola, Henry, Home, Olave, Red Bulls, Win

Category: Game Review